Nine men who were arrested after gardaí raided a suspected Continuity IRA training camp in the Comeragh Mountains have been jailed by the Special Criminal Court.
The court was told that gardaí discovered four guns, a makeshift firing range and targets when they raided a clearing at a forest in the Comeragh Mountains in Co Waterford.
They found four men at a firing point being given instructions by two others and three men armed with shotguns acting as sentries, the court was told.
Gardaí who had been observing the training heard up to 60 shots being fired, including rifle and small arms fire. Officers recovered a legally held shotgun, a sawn-off shotgun and two hunting rifles mounted on tripods with telescopic sights from the area.
The men jailed today are Patrick Deery (53), a native of Claudy, Co Derry, with an address at Woodhouse, Stradbally, Co Waterford; Joseph Mooney (37), of Ozzier Court, Co Waterford; John O'Halloran (35), of Ross Avenue, Mulgrave Street, Limerick; Mark McMahon (37), of Commodore Barry Park, Wexford; Patrick J. Kelly (38), of Belvedere Grove, Wexford; and Dean Coleman (23), of Clarina Avenue, Ballinacurra Weston, Limerick.
They all pleaded guilty to the unlawful possession of an American model rifle in suspicious circumstances at Knocknaree, Knockatedaun, Ballmacarbry, Co Waterford, on August 3rd, 2003.
Thomas Barry (21), of Larchville, Lisduggan, Co Waterford and Brian Galvin (38), of Ardmore Park, Ballybeg, Co Waterford, pleaded guilty to the unlawful possession of a shotgun in suspicious circumstances.
Michael Leahy (23), of Mc Carthyville, Abbeyside, Dungarvan, Co Waterford, pleaded guilty to the unlawful possession of a sawn-off single barrel shotgun at Ballmacarbry, Co Waterford on the same date.
Deery, who the court found was the organiser of the training, was jailed for six years to date from August 3rd, 2003 and Mooney, who the court said was the person giving instructions in the use of firearms, was also jailed for six years.
O'Halloran, McMahon and Kelly, who were at the firing point, were each jailed for five years; Barry and Coleman were each jailed for four years in view of their age; and Galvin and Leahy, who acted as sentries, were each jailed for five years.
The court ordered credit to be given for various periods that the men have already spent in custody.